As a lover of both popular music and science fiction, my visit to the EMP Museum in Seattle was like a trip to heaven.

The non-profit, popular culture museum is the brainchild of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen who used some of his spare millions and items from his personal collection to create what has become one of the Emerald City’s best attractions.

The museum is easy to find as it sits adjacent to Seattle’s iconic Space Needle and the Seattle Art Museum. It even has its own monorail stop. It’s also easy to recognize as its unearthly curves and shiny metal surface could only be the work of renowned Canadian-born architect Frank Gehry. The building is supposed to be designed to resemble a smashed electric guitar, which is certainly not evident from ground level, but you might be able to see it from up high if you take a ride up the Space Needle..

As you enter the museum, you walk past a towering sculpture of guitars that reaches to the top of the building like a musical beanstalk. You then enter the Sky Church, an open space the size of an aircraft hanger. On the wall is a soaring screen showing an endless barrage of larger-than-life concert footage. A few benches are scattered around the space for those who want to sit and watch, but most visitors just stand there, awed by the spectacle.

From there, you can go one direction for the music displays or the other direction for the science fiction, fantasy and horror exhibits.

I chose to first explore the sci-fi section,entitled Icons of Science Fiction, where I was tickled to see the original command chair of Star Trek’s Captain Kirk as well as a Dalek from the long-running Doctor Who series. There are plenty of other instantly-recognizable props and costumes from famous films and TV shows that would delight any fan of the genre.

The museum is also home to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame where grandmasters from the field are honoured. This year’s inductees are Canada’s own Judith Merril, J.R.R. Tolkien, H.R. Giger, Joanna Russ and David Bowie.

My next stop was the fantasy exhibit, Worlds of Myth and Magic, which has artifacts from Harry Potter, The Princess Bride, The Wizard of Oz and other popular movies, but the highlight for me was the display of original manuscript pages from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Seeing them in person was probably the geek equivalent of seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The horror section, which goes by the title Can’t Look Away: The Lure of Horror Film, is suitably dark and scary, with displays of gory costumes and props and multiple screens where you can watch the genre’s most famous movie moments. There is an interactive component where you can sit in a booth and record yourself making your most ear-splitting scream of a slasher movie victim.

So if one side of the museum is for the nerds, the other side must be for the cool kids. That’s where the music fans visit first. In case you were wondering, the EMP in the museum’s name stands for Experience Music Project. Since Seattle is home to Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the museum has extensive displays of memorabilia of their careers, including guitars, clothing, concert posters and much more.

More interesting to me was the Guitar Gallery which is a circular room lined with guitars, tracing a chronological history of the instrument, complete with examples of famous models from music’s most accomplished axemen including Leo Fender, Les Paul, Bo Diddley and many others. As you admire the collection, music fills the room from overhead monitors that show a parade of famous guitarists playing their most famous riffs.

For kids and aspiring musicians of all ages, the SoundLab is an exhibit that gives people the opportunity to get their hands on all kinds of instruments, like guitars, drums and keyboards, to learn the rudiments of how they work. It also lets you play around with the technology to mix and make recordings and learn plenty of other aspects of how music production works. It’s so much fun that it’s hard to get a turn on some of the instruments as no one wants to stop playing with them.

To keep you coming back, the museum has special exhibitions that run for a limited time. During my visit, it was Women who Rock, an inspiring look at the women who have shaped pop music. That show ended recently and was replaced by a collection of Martin Schoeller’s large-scale photographic headshots of some of the world’s most famous figures from pop culture, sports and politics. I haven’t seen the show, but if it’s half as good as the Women Who Rock exhibit, it’s sure to be a hit.

IF YOU GO …

The EMP museum is open daily. Its winter hours are 10 a.m to 5 p.m. It is closed on Christmas Day. Admission is $20 U.S. for adults, $17 for seniors and students, $14 for children. Kids under 4 are admitted for free. There are discounts if you purchase your tickets online. www.empmuseum.org

Consider purchasing a CityPASS as it gives you access to the EMP Museum, the nearby Space Needle and Pacific Science Center as well as several other popular Seattle attraction, all for only $74 U.S. It could save you as much as 43% off regular admissions if you usethem all. You have nine days to use the pass once you use your first ticket, but CityPASS has a special Christmas rate that lengthens the period to 74 days if you purchase after Dec. 15, 2013. www.citypass.com

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